England is now in severe drought conditions; very little has fallen since April. In fact, since February, only 25% of the average amount of rain has fallen. This is affecting most of the open field crops across the country.
"The last time it rained was in July," said Rodger Hobson, Chairman of British Carrots. "It is really a tale of two crops, in the areas where we have been able to irrigate, the carrot crop is alright, where we have not been able to irrigate, it is a nightmare."
Rodger has around 20% which has not been irrigated as it has no access to water. This happens when there is no water available or when it is too far away from the source. Another 20% of his crop has seen water but can't see it anymore, this is due to rivers or becks being too low, and the Environment Agency has imposed restrictions, or the reservoirs are empty.
"Around 60% of my crop is ok, the rest is dire. The situation seems to be the same around the country, although Scotland may have fared better. We will have Carrots for Christmas, but not for the whole year. We will have to import and imported carrots always cost around three times as much as homegrown."
The UK is expecting to see the remnants of hurricane Erin this week, but according to Rodger, Yorkshire will only get around 8mm of rain. "I keep hoping that we will see a decent amount of rain in September and things will pick up."
For more information:
Rodger Hobson
British Carrot Growers' Association
[email protected]